Sampurna Chattarji: Descending
Trampoline: In which the line I bounce off from is – “To descend into yourself means discovering subversion” (Edmond Jabès, The Little Book of Unexpected Subversion) – tucked away in a response to Nils’ text
*
“Descending into light is dangerous.
On the surface I am all skin.”
*
At the top of the morning is a mountain.
She climbs it.
One morning, she discovers it is inside her.
*
“Or what I mean, perhaps, is all light.
It’s my sister who is good with words.”
*
She feels vertical, and rock-steady.
It is on the way down
that she slopes, falls, flattens.
*
“Sis, you dwell in the front of the tongue.
What do you know about what lies underneath?”
*
The next morning, there is nothing to walk towards.
Only movement can still
that demon – speed. Run, she tells herself.
*
“And what if, Sis, at the core of all this light,
there is nothing?
Just a hollow, silent, drum?”